Oh, what a trouble that boy caused him.

Poor, poor Yoongi, unable to get himself to focus on much at all for the next couple of days, all because of one person, because of that one little kiss that still made his head spin. If only, he wished, Jimin could be as shy with these things as he was. If only he weren't such a smooth-talker, a performer.

It was hopeless and Yoongi knew it - getting Jimin out of his head, especially after that. It was just something he would have to accept now.

Despite this distressing fact, Yoongi did strive his best to at least function as a normal human being, and he succeeded, for which he was quite proud of himself. Even though that pleasant fuzziness did tickle at his chest he could still go about his daily routine without giving in to the urge to pace back and forth in the living room.

Well, mostly. A few times he did catch himself daydreaming and doing just that, to which in response he gave himself a sternly worded lecture in the bathroom mirror.

He wouldn't tell Jeongguk. Or Hoseok. Neither of them would shut up about it for the rest of forever, and that was precisely what Yoongi did not need. Right now, he needed to focus on preparing for whatever celebration Jimin had planned for Taehyung's birthday - not that Yoongi really suspected there would be much going on. Jimin had said so himself that they didn't have a party planned or anything like that. But he also hadn't specified what they would be doing.

That being said, Yoongi chose to prepare the only way he knew how and went out to buy Taehyung a gift. Just something small, nothing flashy or pricey, but he knew the boy would appreciate it regardless. Although, when Yoongi stopped to think about it, he wasn't entirely sure why he felt the need to buy him a gift. Naturally, it seemed right now that he was being invited to a birthday celebration of sorts, but even still. Deep down Yoongi had a feeling it was that soft, vulnerable part of himself that he feared would result in his own downfall some day.

It seemed even more likely now with a boy like Jimin having stepped into his life.

His lips were so soft...

"No. Enough. Min Snuggles, you are weak."

Somehow, by the time the 30th, aka the day of Taehyung's birthday, came around, Yoongi managed to get himself together to what he deemed as an acceptable degree. By this point he had relayed the plan to Jeongguk. At least as much as he could with what little he knew.

To say the least, the younger had been absolutely thrilled at the invitation. Although because of his personality, he got it across in the most bizarre way, which Yoongi also suspected was a result of Jeongguk's nervousness to be around the cute hearing impaired boy.

All the more fun that would make this excursion, he thought.

Yoongi had stressed to Jeongguk the importance of getting up early this morning. Without a doubt, Jimin would have absolutely no intention of waiting for a boy he didn't plan to invite in the first place. Yoongi was sure Jimin wouldn't even want to wait for him. However he was a bit more lucky considering Taehyung had been the one to invite him, and the dancer had clearly expressed by this point how much Taehyung meant to him.

Jimin told Yoongi to be ready in the morning. Had he specified what time of the morning? No, again, because Jimin hardly provided any details at all. So here in his living room Yoongi found himself at 7:45 a.m., finishing off the last bite of a cereal bar as he sent his friend a text that essentially urged him to hurry up or he'd be left behind. Jimin wasn't here yet. Possibly wouldn't be here for another four hours, as it would still be morning then. But Yoongi also knew Jeongguk would be a sulking mess if he missed out on whatever they'd be doing today.

By 8:00 Jeongguk arrived at Yoongi's apartment, his obnoxiously large, military-style backpack swung around his shoulder and his jeans ripped more than what was even remotely necessary for winter. Yet he still looked ready to burst out of the building and brave whatever awaited him.

"Hiding a body in there?"

"No, snacks," Jeongguk corrected, then proceeded to unzip every pocket of his backpack and reveal the contents to his friend. "Hot cheetos. Doritos. Fritos. Cheerios. Oreos. All the o's."

Yoongi needed a moment to contemplate whether or not it would be a good idea to being Jeongguk along after all. "Guk."

"Yeah, what's up? Did I forget something?" The boy peered into the biggest pocket of the bag. "Shoot, should I go back for the chocolate milk?"

"Guk, first of all..." Yoongi exhaled. "How do you have enough money to afford all these?"

"Get lots of good tips at work."

"I'm sure. Second, what do you think we're doing? Running away from home??"

"If we are," Jeongguk held up his index finger, "then I'm definitely gonna have to run back over to my place. I am not leaving my Pokémon card collection behind for some wannabe kid to-"

Yoongi grabbed his friend's lips tightly just to shut him up, then released them. "This is more than enough," he said, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, your level of absurdity just exceeds all basic human understanding..."

"Cut me some slack, hyung," Jeongguk whined. "You said your pretty dancer friend didn't tell you what we were doing, so I figured better safe than sorry, you know?"

"My 'pretty dancer friend' has a name."

"Aha, so you admit he's your pretty dancer fr-"

Again, he grabbed the boy's lips. "One more word before he gets here and your snack stash is gonna be a trash stash."

"No!! At least eat them!!"

"These are disgusting." Yoongi scowled as he pulled out a bag of hot cheetos from the backpack. "They don't belong in anyone's digestive system."

"Take it back, hyung, take it back right now or I'll-"

There was a knock at the door. Both boys turned in the direction of it, then looked at each other.

"Go ahead," Yoongi encouraged. "Answer it."

"No. You'll dump these in the trash."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Rock paper scissors. Loser answers the door. Wait, no this is your apartment, anyway. I'm just a guest."

"And yet you dragged this massive trash bag in here-"

"That's my snack pack!!"

There was another knock. This time, followed by a voice.

"Yoongi, baby, I won't wait here all day. Five more seconds and Tae and I are ditching whether he likes it or not."

Silence settled for a moment. Jeongguk's gaze slowly traveled back to Yoongi, whose cheeks began to grow red from embarrassment.

"...I was wrong. He's not your pretty dancer friend. He's your pretty dancer boyfr—wait, no, my snack pack!!"

The younger failed to tear his beloved backpack away as Yoongi stood up front the couch, now gripping it securely in his hands. He made his way over to the door and opened it.

There he found both Jimin and Taehyung standing right outside in the hall. Of course, this didn't surprise him. What did surprise Yoongi, however, was the sight of Jimin, otherwise casually dressed in jeans and a t-shirt beneath his coat, wearing a tall, plastic, pink and yellow glittery birthday hat that matched the one Taehyung had on, as well.

"It's my birthday!"

Yoongi waved and cracked a smile at the cheerful boy, and an even bigger one at Jimin's unamused expression. "I like your hat."

"Great, 'cus I got you one."

"I beg your pardon?"

Before Yoongi could argue, Jimin was already pulling another identical birthday hat out from behind him and placing it on the other's head, then pulling the string down beneath Yoongi's chin. He smiled sarcastically. "There, now aren't you cute?"

"I mean...-"

"Hyung?"

Jeongguk stepped closer to his friend to peer over his shoulder at the visitors. Yoongi soon felt a smirk tug at his lips as he watched the younger's eyes travel immediately to Taehyung. Then he looked back at Yoongi.

"Hyung, I dunno how to sign happy birthday-"

"Like this," Jimin piped up, much to both Yoongi's and Jeongguk's surprise. "Watch, 'cus I'm not wasting my time hosting a sign language class for people who probably aren't even serious about it."

Despite how bitter the words sounded, Jimin's expression seemed to soften a bit as he explained how to convey birthday wishes with a few simple hand motions. All the while as he did so Taehyung simply stood behind him and grinned with glee.

Eventually, Yoongi and Jeongguk both successfully - although Jimin did not look impressed - wished Taehyung a happy birthday in sign language, thus making the boy happier than Yoongi had seen him thus far.

"Thank you," he said, giggling as he touched his mouth with his hand then pulled it away.

Yoongi reached into his pocket for his phone to type out a quick message for Taehyung.

—

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?

—

"Twenty-two!"

"Just ask me if you have questions," Jimin groaned not a second later. "We're not doing small talk in your apartment building, we need to go."

"But I haven't even introduced you to my friend-"

"Yoongi's friend, nice to meet you, I hope you're quick on your feet 'cus I'm not doing head counts, so if you fall behind that's on you."

"Lovely." Jeongguk snatched his backpack from Yoongi and once again threw the strap over his shoulder. "I'm ready."

Taehyung, still smiling, pointed at the backpack curiously. "What's in there?"

Yoongi typed another message for him.

—

Animal skeletons.

—

An alarmed, slightly terrified glance was thrown Jeongguk's way, which in turn drove the boy to throw the same glance back at Yoongi.

"Hyung."

"So, Jimin, where are we going first?"

"Hyung."

—

end of chapter twelve.